Surveyors point to broadly flat housing market in November
THE HOUSING market muddled along in November, with mild falls in house prices, but improvements on other market measures.
Prices slid at a slightly faster rate than in October, according to data out today from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, as indicated by a score of minus nine on their headline price index – down from minus seven.
But new buyer inquiries continued to rise, according to their index level of plus 11, though this suggested a slower rate of increase in November than October, when the index was at plus 17.
A similar picture came from the new instructions index. More surveys were demanded during the month – the index stood at plus four – but this represented a slowdown on October’s plus 11.
This broadly flat picture looks set to continue: “The November survey suggests that prices at a headline level remain broadly flat while transaction levels continued to edge upwards,” the report said.
And though price expectations for three and 12 months ahead turned a little more negative, these were only slightly below flat, highlighting the stagnant trend in the market.
However, 39 per cent of landlords surveyed by LSL Property Services expected rents would rise over the coming year, with just one per cent predicting they would decline.